Hi.

Aug 13 Burger Cupcakes...

There's not much I can write to accompany these pictures as I feel hamburgers made of cake are more of a visual art than a written one. However I will attempt to explain how the whole cake burger situation came about and how you can make some of these yourself.

In case you are unfamiliar with it, there is a show in the UK called The Great British Bake Off. It is, essentially, the greatest TV show on earth, in fact it may be the greatest thing on earth. There is so much on TV and on the internet that's about hatred, about pointing out all the horrible things in the world, but the GBBO is solely about joy. It actually makes you feel joyful. And happy. And like things are going to be okay. It's a beautiful TV show and a beautiful thing to exist and when I think about reasons I'm proud to be British (and reasons I'm sad to be leaving England) The Great British Bake Off comes pretty high on my list.

In honour of the first episode of the new series last week I decided to try out a new recipe. But it needed to be something special. Something that would make Mary Berry smile and Paul Hollywood claim was focusing too much on 'style over substance'. It was time to make some hamburger cupcakes. I'd seen things like this on the internet for a while but when I saw the recipe here I couldn't resist.

When it comes to baking most things follow the rule that if it looks cool, it's harder to make, but these were actually surprisingly easy. The recipe essentially breaks down into four stages.

1. Bake your favourite vanilla cupcakes.

2. Bake your favourite chocolate brownies.

3. Cut the cupcakes in half, cut the brownies into little circles, cut small squares out of yellow fondant or marzipan.

4. Glaze the top of the cupcakes with honey, sprinkle on some sesame seeds and then assemble.

I started off by making the big ones which looked amazing but also definitely made most people who looked at them want to vomit. While we were watching Bake Off my dad tried to eat one and judge me in the style of Mary and Paul but he ended up just eating the brownie as he deemed the cake 'drier than a dried shriveled raisin'.

So my next attempt came in the form of mini hamburger cupcakes which looked (if possible) even cooler and were actually pretty nice and edible. My friend Anna (who has an amazing blog that you can read here) said next time I make them I should also make real mini hamburgers and then lay them all out on a tray mixed together. She is an evil genius. And I'm definitely doing this as soon as possible.

I hope you enjoy drooling (or gagging) over these as you prepare for episode 2 of the GBBO. I have yet to develop a favourite but I'm leaning towards the 17 year old girl (who is about as obsessive a baker as me) or the builder with the pencil behind his ear.